The Director of Industrial Relations is charged with responsibility for labor management, national negotiations, mechanization, safety and health for all divisions of the union, and the administration of the collective bargaining agreement.

There’s more to being a progressive union than achieving and enforcing a contract — and that’s where the Human Relations Department comes in. Our programs and benefits inspire members to participate in the union and give them a sense of inclusion, contribution, and ownership.

The Maintenance Craft is a diverse and complex division of the APWU. In addition to the three national officers who work at the union's headquarters in Washington, DC, representation is provided by nine Maintenance National Business Agents (NBAs) and three all-craft NBAs.

The Motor Vehicle Craft is composed of APWU members who transport mail and maintain postal vehicles, and includes MVS Clerks, who work in Vehicle Maintenance Facilities and in Transportation Departments in mail processing plants.

The Support Services Division represents APWU bargaining unit members at Information Technology/ Accounting Service Centers, Operating Services facilities, Mail Equipment Shops and Material Distribution Centers, as well as professional nurses employed by the Postal Service. The Division also includes APWU-represented workers who are employed in the private sector, including mail haul drivers and Mail Transport Equipment Service Center employees.

The Northeast Regional Coordinator is responsible for union activity in parts of New York and New Jersey, and Connecticut, Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Vermont, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.

The Western Region Coordinator is responsible for the union's activities in Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, Wyoming, and American Samoa, Guam and Saipan.

The Deaf/Hard of Hearing Task Force is a forum for APWU members to address their unique problems and concerns in the workplace, union, and society. Established in 1988 by an amendment to the APWU National Constitution, its goals include: better communication, better representation; better training, a better workplace, a better union, and building friendship.

APWU POWER (Post Office Women for Equal Rights) is the women’s committee within the American Postal Workers Union. It unites women, with their special concerns, yet works within the framework of the national APWU organization.

The APWU National Postal Press Association (PPA) provides APWU communicators with a wide range of assistance, information, and educational programs concerning the publication of union newsletters and media.

Arbitration Awards & Settlements

News: Arbitration Awards & Settlements

On Maintenance Craft Staffing at BMCs

03/24/2016 - The Postal Service sidestepped a fight in federal court on March 16 over enforcement of an Oct. 19, 2015, arbitration award on staffing at Bulk Mail Centers (BMCs). After the USPS filed a “consent motion,” Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson ordered interpretation of the award to be returned to Arbitrator Ira F. Jaffe.

USPS Duplicity and Disrespect: Three Examples

02/23/2016 - (This article first appeared in the March-April 2016 issue of The American Postal Worker magazine.)

The Maintenance Division filed a complaint in federal court on Dec. 11 seeking enforcement of a national arbitration award on staffing at Bulk Mail Centers (BMCs). We asked the court to direct the Postal Service to comply with a ruling issued by Arbitrator Ira F. Jaffe on Oct. 19.

In the decision, Arbitrator Jaffe ordered the Postal Service to “cease and desist” from using Maintenance Management Order 112-10 (eWHEP) and to return to using MMO 022-04 (BMC Gold) to prepare Maintenance Craft staffing packages for BMCs (also known as Network Distribution Centers or NDCs).

12/18/2015 - The APWU filed a complaint in federal court on Dec. 11 seeking enforcement of a national arbitration award on staffing at Bulk Mail Centers (BMC), Maintenance Craft Director Steve Raymer has announced. The complaint asks the court to direct the Postal Service to comply with a ruling issued by Arbitrator Ira F. Jaffe on Oct. 19.

11/01/2015 - (This article first appeared in the November/December 2015 issue of The American Postal Worker magazine.)

The Postal Service has notified the APWU of management’s intent to move forward with proposed changes to the MS-1 Handbook, which identifies the duties and establishes the staffing for the “building side” of Maintenance Craft work.

In revising the MS-1 Handbook, Operation and Maintenance of Real Property, management is attempting to eliminate a substantial number of Maintenance Craft jobs. In the process, it will make the postal facilities less safe, less comfortable, and less efficient.

10/07/2015 - The APWU and USPS agreed to extend the 50-mile limit on excessing in a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) dated Sept. 28, signed by APWU President Mark Dimondstein and the USPS Vice President for Labor Relations. The original MOU, Minimizing Excessing, which was slated to expire with the 2010 contract, is extended until May 20, 2018, or for the term of the next Collective Bargaining Agreement, whichever is later.

“Excessing beyond 50 miles is devastating to our members and their families,” said APWU President Mark Dimondstein. “In the past, union members were frequently reassigned to facilities hundreds of miles from their homes. This MOU will prevent that. I consider it a significant accomplishment for APWU members in every craft.”

09/29/2015 - The APWU and the USPS have agreed upon two Memoranda of Understanding: “Minimizing Excessing” and “Peak Season Exception Periods,” in addition to a Maintenance-specific Step 4 Settlement, that are all interconnected and result in the extension of the 50-mile memo on Sept. 28, 2015, APWU President Mark Dimondstein announced.

09/22/2015 - Well over 7,000 employees represented by the APWU have been paid as part of the Associate Office Infrastructure (AOI) national arbitration award. A period of time has been granted for anyone who may have been missed to provide the requested information for consideration to be included.

The time for members of the ET and AMT and AMS occupational groups to be identified for payment from the AOI national arbitration award will close on Oct. 1, 2015.

(This article first appeared in the July-August 2015 issue of The American Postal Worker magazine.)

It seems some old perceptions and misunderstandings die hard, even when confronted with clear and unambiguous facts.

This applies not just to management types, who have a great deal of difficulty learning new things, but also to some arbitrators. There are those who seem to be afraid to do the right thing and some who are overly concerned about how their record will look to the USPS.

One example is the change made during 2010 contract negotiations to Article 38.4.A, which addresses vacant duty assignments in the Maintenance Craft. The changes are shown in bold type below, just as they appear on page 206 of the 2010-2015 Collective Bargaining Agreement. (Note that in the new 2015 contract, the language will carry over and will not be bold-faced.)

04/14/2015 - Maintenance Craft employees who are eligible for a monetary remedy in the Associate Office Infrastructure (AOI) arbitration award have been identified, Director Steve Raymer has announced. Checks to union members are currently being processed.

Eligible employees are those who occupied an ET-10, ET-11, AMS-8 or AMT-9 positions on Dec. 11, 2014, as well as any (former) ETs who were in a saved grade status on that date.